Squall and Rinoa
by KaibaGirl007
Summary: Who would have thought that Seto Kaiba would fall for a girl so easily? And at an Anime convention! If only she knew who he really was. If only he knew who she was!
1. Chapter 1

**This fic is a follow on from my one-shot 'Glomp me', but you don't have to have read it to enjoy this fic.  
**

**I own no rights 'cause I'm poor :P**

**Chapter One**

At the convention, Kaiba wandered from display to display taking in all of the information he could from the latest products on show from several of his company's competitors. His brow wrinkled in disgust at the sight of all the software and hardware, which wasn't even anywhere close to the capabilities of his own company. Either they weren't any kind of threat to him at all, or they were keeping all their aces to themselves by not having them on show to the public.

He turned and looked around the crowded exhibition hall as he searched for his brother. It had been Mokuba's idea to come to this convention, but after the last one they'd attended, Kaiba wasn't keen on the idea at all. Again he found himself double checking his back to make sure that there had been no paper signs stuck to it like last time, and so far nobody had tried to hug him. Kaiba slowly began to relax and continued to watch the waves of people pass by him.

When they had first arrived the two brothers had agreed to go their separate ways during their time there. This gave Kaiba the time he wanted to research his competitor's whilst Mokuba got the chance to go off and do whatever he wanted without any complaints. Now that he'd finished his spying, there was nothing else that Kaiba wanted to do there, not even enter the Duel Monsters tournament, which he knew wouldn't be a challenge for him, and he was sure he'd seen Yugi and Joey enter the arena earlier when he had first arrived which gave him another reason to stay clear from it as seeing them today wasn't something he wanted either. Heck, when had he ever wanted to see Yugi and his gang of geeks?

He hoped that his brother was still in one piece as Mokuba had insisted on wearing a 'free hugs' sign around his neck. Last time Kaiba had blamed Yugi for influencing Mokuba into the bizarre world of glomping, but maybe he was to blame after all. If he'd shown more attention to his brother then would Mokuba still be trying to seek it from complete strangers? Maybe rejoining him now instead of the end of the day would change that, but what if it didn't? He didn't want a repeat incident or something similar to last time.

"Hey, great cosplay." Kaiba received yet another compliment on his outfit and managed a nod in return. He hadn't wanted to be recognised during his time there, and as much as he despised the idea of cosplaying it gave him the perfect chance to go unnoticed. In fact he found himself being treated differently from usual. When people spoke to him they lacked the fear or hatred that was normally present in their voices, and in return he too was much friendlier though he was still irritated by the occasional one or two of them.

Kaiba's character of choice was Squall Leonhart from the Final Fantasy VIII game. He enjoyed the series as a whole, when he was able to find time to play through the games, but for some reason this one remained his favourite. Why was that? Possibly because the hero he was portraying was an arrogant, insensitive, selfish jerk like himself so he'd have no problem fitting in with the character's personality? Or did he secretly long to go through a similar change that the character made throughout the game? At the end of the day, he didn't really care. His look would have matched Squall's perfectly except that he lacked the gunblade weapon and trademark scar down the centre of his face. Mokuba had offered to draw the scar on using one of his markers, but Kaiba didn't want to take the risk of being unable to remove it once the whole thing was over.

Carefully so as not to impale himself on other people's costume props, Kaiba began to move his way through the heavy crowd. He hadn't gone far when he stopped at hearing his character's name called out. "Squall!" Surprisingly, a lot of people did this and just as surprisingly he had become use to it after the first few times. He turned to see a girl struggle as she hurried towards him.

A faint smile crept onto his face as the girl approaching him was also in cosplay as another character from Final Fantasy VIII, so obviously it must be something she too was fond of. "Wow, you look just like him." She gasped and then noticed he lacked the scar. "It's nice to see somebody else who likes the _other_ Final Fantasy games." They both sneaked a glance sideways to each other and caught glimpses of countless clone cosplayers dressed as the main characters from the seventh and tenth games in the series.

"And you look just like her." Kaiba smiled in return to see the girl blush from the remark. He wasn't lying, if she'd had brown eyes instead of blue she'd be the real life version of Rinoa Heartilly. Again he looked at her from head to toe as every detail was amazingly accurate and wow did those legs look good. _What the?! _

"You feeling okay?" Rinoa asked as Kaiba's face began to fluster.

"Fine." Kaiba nodded and suddenly began to feel dizzy. Why the hell had he thought that about her legs? And the eyes, way had he noticed those too?

"You don't look fine." Rinoa frowned as she saw the colour drain from Kaiba's face causing him to look extremely pale. "Let's go somewhere less crowded." She grabbed his hand, led him through the crowd and out of the main convention hall.

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The dizziness faded as Kaiba sat at a small table on his own as he looked down at its surface still in a state of shock over what he had felt back in the hall. What was wrong with him? He never paid anyone a second glance so why had he done it for her?

"Here ya go." A glass of water was placed in front of him. "I wasn't sure what you'd like so I hope water is okay." Rinoa explained as she seated herself opposite him and drank from her own glass of water.

"That's fine, thank you." He replied quietly not looking at her.

Rinoa frowned as she looked at the face which had been happy and smiling just a few moments earlier and wondered just how long it would be before it returned. "I'm sorry, but there's something that I just have to do to you." She rummaged around in her purse.

"You don't intend to hug me do you?" Kaiba peered out through the criss-cross of hair that obscured his path of vision.

"No." The girl half laughed and snorted at the same time.

_Oh._ Kaiba thought silently to himself. Why had he been disappointed with the reply? He looked across the table to the girl and felt his stomach swim with nerves as he wondered what she planned to do.

"Close your eyes." Rinoa smiled at Kaiba waiting for him to do so.

_What the hell is wrong with you?! _Kaiba's mind growled at him as he did as the girl had asked, his stomach still whirling. He felt something cool and smooth placed on his forehead above his right eye and felt it dragged down across his face until it stopped on the side of his nose below his left eye.

"You can open them now." Rinoa's voice sang to him and then Kaiba watched as she placed the lid onto a peach coloured lipstick before returning it to her purse. "Perfect."

Kaiba remained calm were he sat. He'd just been foolish enough to sit with his eyes closed and let the girl draw on his face with her lipstick, and yet he wasn't shouting and screaming at her for doing so. Why? Watching Rinoa drink from her water he picked up his own and did the same.

"Are you here on your own?" Rinoa asked as she placed her drink back down on the table.

"No." Kaiba placed his glass back down as well. Why was he mimicking her?

"I'm not either." The girl laughed sheepishly as she looked away and took another drink of water.

_Liar. _He couldn't help but smirk at the girl's inability to sound convincing with her lie. "We're not expecting to meet up again for a good few hours, so if you'd like to hang together …." He stopped himself before he'd finished inviting her to stay with him until that time. Why had he even considered doing such a thing that was most unlike him?

"I'd love to." Was the reply Kaiba heard during the pause causing his stomach to flip over. _Oh crap!_ What was he getting himself into?

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**A/N: So far I've only gotten three chapters of this 'light-hearted' fic complete and was wondering if there'd be any interest in it before I decide whether or not to continue with it. **

**Hope someone enjoys,  
**

**KG**


	2. Chapter 2

**Big thanks to DaAmazingMeepers, starwefter, dragonlady111111, and Nekogirl for leaving reviews :)**

**Chapter Two**

After only a couple of hours of the doors being first opened, the main exhibition hall was crammed full of people with many more still lining up to get inside. Not wanting to have to force their way through the growing crowd, Kaiba and Rinoa had gotten their hands stamped so that they'd be able to return and enter when things had calmed down later on in the day. Together they walked by the side of the river that ran next to the venue as they talked about their favourite Final Fantasy game and munched away on pocky.

"I've never really paid it much attention since it's possible to complete the game without playing it." Rinoa confessed as to why she wasn't very good at the Triple Triad card game that featured as a side game for collecting numerous cards. "My cards are also kind of weak and I easily get confused with which rules apply to which areas too."

"So you're not a card game type person then?" Kaiba asked curiously. He liked playing Triple Triads in the game, but hadn't found it very challenging as he had managed to gain all of the cards pretty easily, despite having to lose and regain some of them in order to unlock some of the rarer cards. Regaining them wasn't the problem; it was losing them that he found difficult.

"Nah, not really." Rinoa answered with her nose wrinkled after she had thought for a moment about the question that had been asked. "I have some friend's who play Duel Monsters though."

"Ah, Duel Monsters." Kaiba smiled fondly. How long would he be able to keep his secret from her?

"You play Duel Monsters too?" The girl sounded surprised by this.

"I guess you could say that." Kaiba jammed some more pocky in his mouth to stop him from saying more on the subject. If he spoke about his deck then his cover would be blown. Why did it bother him so much if she found out who he was anyway?

"We could go over to the duelling arena if you'd like to take part in the tourn ………" Rinoa suggested as the two approached the front of the venue again but was cut off by Kaiba.

"No!" he exclaimed, as he didn't fancy the possibility of bumping into Yugi and Joey who he'd seen earlier. The girl looked taken aback and slightly hurt by having her suggestion rejected, making his stomach flip over with guilt from having done that to her. "I don't have my deck with me and I'm not tournament worthy experience wise." He lied making up the excuse to try and make her feel better. Why did it matter to him how she was feeling anyway?

"Okay." Rinoa hadn't taken any offence at all. "How about we……argh!" she cried out as a pair of arms were forced around her from out of nowhere and found herself being glomped by a boy dressed in red robes with white hair and dog-like ears.

Anger flashed in Kaiba's eyes from the sight of the glomper as he despised them so much, especially after the last convention he had attended, but it was the fact that the boy's hands rest across Rinoa's breasts which made him lose his temper. He grabbed hold of the red robe and dragged the boy from Rinoa who fell down to the ground. "I aught to knock you out for doing that."

"Hey, just chill dude." The boy laughed as Kaiba gripped him tighter. "I was only having a bit of fun."

"How is assaulting pretty girls fun?" Kaiba hissed angrily. Did he just admit that he though the girl was pretty? "I want you to apologise for what you've just done." He forced the boy to stand looking down at Rinoa who looked just as shocked as her glomper.

"Sorry." The boy mumbled and felt himself shaken by his captor who felt that the apology hadn't been spoken clearly enough. "I'm really, extremely, very sorry for startling you miss." He tried again.

"Apology accepted." Rinoa confirmed and watched Kaiba release the boy who hurried away quickly. She reached up to take hold of the hands that Kaiba held out to help her up. "Thank you." She gasped still in surprise of the over protectiveness shown towards her.

"You're welcome." Kaiba replied as he tried to make sense of the way he had just acted.

As Rinoa was about to stand on her feet again, she accidentally stepped on her costume that hung down low at her back. She stumbled backwards and then forwards as she began to fall and found herself caught by Kaiba whose arms supported her as though they were in an embrace. With her arms draped over his shoulder Rinoa's checks flushed as she pulled back and looked up into the deep blue eyes gazing down at her.

Kaiba's checks burned too as he stared down to see the lighter blue eyes gazing back up directly into his own. _Yes._ He admitted to himself. _This girl is definitely pretty_. Even though he was trying his hardest to ignore the strange new feelings to him, he couldn't hold them off forever. Was this what it was like to feel attracted to someone? Could it be possible that he was even falling in love? Surely not for he knew how cold his heart had grown and nothing would be able to melt it.

Flashes of light began to explode around them as a small crowd had begun to gather and several people were taking photos of the two of them together. "You two are just adorable, and you've re-enacted the Ester rescue scene perfectly." A girl squealed excitedly.

Rinoa burned even more brightly as she pulled away from Kaiba who looked horror stricken at being photograph by complete strangers. He was use to being photographed by unfamiliar people as he'd been unable to escape the attention drawn to himself from the first day his step-father had adopted him, but never had he been photographed at such a personal moment in his life. In just a few short hours he knew that photos of the two of them would be placed up on the internet for all to see. Good thing he was in cosplay so nobody would recognise him.

"Are you two entering the masquerade?" Another girl asked as she snapped more photos of them.

"No." Kaiba replied, blinded by camera flashes. He wouldn't be caught parading on a stage in front of hundreds of people dressed like he was, not for anyone.

"I am." Rinoa smiled. "I even have a whole dance routine planned out."

"You two should enter into it together." The first camera girl squealed. "I'm sure that they'll let you change your entrance form to be able to do so."

"Would you like to?" Rinoa turned to ask Kaiba, her checks hinted with a tint of rosy redness.

_Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. _His mind chanted as he gazed back at her feeling unable to turn her offer down. "Sure." He gulped.

There was another squeal, which Kaiba was sure was almost high pitched enough that any higher would mean that only dogs would be able to hear it, as both camera girls began to jump up and down. "You two have to do the ballroom scene."

_Not a chance. _Kaiba told himself as he watched Rinoa also become excited by the idea. He wouldn't dance, mainly because he couldn't, and nobody would be able to make him change his mind about it, not even Mokuba.

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**A/N: As long as there is at least one review for each chapter posted, I will continue to update this fic, but how regularly that will be I can not be certain on as I'm also working on several other fics too.**

**KG**


	3. Chapter 3

**Big thanks to: Amylou11987, DaAmazingMeepers, starwefter, and dragonlady111111 for leaving reviews :)**

**Chapter Three**

"Ouch!" Rinoa complained as Kaiba trod on her foot for the umpteenth time.

"Sorry." Kaiba apologised for his clumsiness. _N and O spell 'no'. When you say 'no' you mean 'no', even if some pretty girl bats her eyes at you, you 'do not' cave in to her. _His mind continued to growl at him for having agreed to dance with Rinoa as they now practised the ballroom scene for their masquerade entry.

"Don't worry, Squall couldn't dance at first either, but you'll soon get the hang of it." Rinoa smiled to try and encourage Kaiba to carry on dancing as he let go of her hands and began to turn away from her.

Kaiba switched off Rinoa's multi-media player, which had the ballroom music playing, as it rest on a nearby wall were they practiced on the green arena outside of the venue along with many other groups who also rehearsed their own routines. "I need a break." He sighed as he thought about how he'd never quit at anything in his life but would be more than happy to make an exception for the dancing. Turning to sit down on the green grass he smirked at Rinoa; "I think your feet deserve a break too." This caused her to dance and twirl around happily as she made her way over to sit down beside him.

Together they glanced around at all of the different groups, some of them practiced dance routines using pompoms, many glompers where seeking more victims and other groups met up with more to create even larger groups who just seemed to comment on each others' cosplay outfits, take photos, play-fight and swap details to be able to keep contact after the event. Kaiba wondered if he and Rinoa would swap details too before he caught glimpse of a group dancing as they held their hands flapping at either side of their heads and swayed from side to side in time with the beat of the music. "You'd never catch me doing that." He sneered.

"You really don't like dancing do you?" Rinoa laughed to see Kaiba shake his head. The smile dropped from her face at the thought of making the stranger do something that he didn't want to do. "We could just forget the whole thing. We're not even wearing the correct outfits for that scene anyway."

"I don't think people are going to nitpick about our outfits, my dancing maybe, but you've put up with me for this long so it would be a shame to just give up now." Kaiba sighed not wanting to see the girl sad so would force himself to carry on with the torturous task. _You idiot! _His mind screamed at him for having passed up the chance to quit the dancing.

"Maybe we should just leave off practicing the first part of the dance." Rinoa stated, as Kaiba had no problem making a mess of the dance routine like Squall did. She continued to explain the moves. "After that it's simply side, side, twirl, side, side, twirl, step around each other, pull in, push out, pull in, push out and then pull in close for the finishing pose."

Kaiba just stared blankly. It was okay her saying it like it was simple but he couldn't control his feet to do those moves as easily and gracefully as what she could. "Don't look so worried, we still have another hour before the masquerade starts." She smiled at him as she rose to her feet and encouraged him to do the same.

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After practicing for another hour Kaiba and Rinoa only just made it to the masquerade moments before it started. They waited inline watching the entrants before them as their time to perform drew closer with each act that was completed. Some acts were dances, others fight sequences or speeches, and even handfuls which the entrant simply strutted across the stage. As nervous as he was Kaiba felt it subside as he didn't feel as threatened by the competition that he had seen so far.

They were due to be on stage as soon as the current act had finished and Kaiba took the last few moments to scan the crowd as he searched to see if his brother was seated amongst them. He started viewing them from the front and went back one row at a time but hadn't seen a trace of his brother's black scruffy hair as he almost reached the back of the room and then froze with horror as he spotted two familiar faces. Right on the back row stood Yugi, standing on his chair to peer across the people in front of him, and Joey as they clapped for the act which had just finished.

"We're up now." Rinoa said as she grabbed hold of Kaiba's hand and led him on stage behind her as he struggled to follow after.

_I can't do this. _Kaiba told himself as his head reeled with the thought of Yugi and Joey being able to recognise him through his disguise. The music started and Rinoa guided his right hand to her waist taking his left and leading him into the start of the dance.

Laughter erupted in the room when Kaiba staggered as he struggled to keep up with the dance, which luckily for him was meant to happen at that point but still he had messed up his moves and felt like he couldn't go on with the rest of it. He began to storm off the stage but was pulled back by Rinoa who assumed it was still part of the act. After turning back to look at her though, everyone else seemed to disappear from Kaiba's mind as Rinoa's happy, sparkling blue eyes made him focus on her, and her alone.

Taking a deep breath, Kaiba followed her as she stepped to his side stepped back and then stepped to the other side before he pulled back to twirl her around under his arm. Again they stepped to each other's sides and another twirl under his arm before they let go and paced around each other in long strides which resembled a square. He took hold of her hand and watched as she gracefully twirled in towards him, coiling herself in his arm and then out again to repeat the move. Rinoa then coiled herself towards him one last time and stopped with her body pressed right up against his own for the finishing pose, staring up at him with a proud smile on her face which told him he'd done well with the performance.

The music stopped as the audience began to cheer and clap which snapped Kaiba back to the reality that he was surrounded by people with all eyes upon him as he stood there losing himself in the gorgeous blue eyes that happily stared up at him. "Kiss!" someone from the crowd shouted, and although it had crossed his mind Kaiba couldn't bring himself to do it with so many eyes watching him. His contact with Rinoa broke as the crowd began to chant. He then hurried off the stage with her follow in his wake whilst the crowd was greatly disappointed by the couple leaving and not witnessing the kiss which they had demanded.

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A short while later, the winners of the masquerade were announced.

Unfortunately the couple had only placed fourth, - as voted by the audience, - and Kaiba had the feeling that if he'd given them what they had wanted then they would have been placed higher, most likely first. And because of that he had cost Rinoa the victory which she seemed to hide her disappointment well with a bright heart warming smile. _I bet she hates me right now, I know that I would for dragging her down from victory._

"Hey, you okay?" She nudged him playfully as she noticed the vacant expression on his face. "You look a little down. What's up?"

Kaiba couldn't help but let a smile briefly flicker at the corner of his lips as he looked back into that pretty face. "We lost by only coming fourth." He told her.

"And?" She laughed as though what he had said had been a joke. "I never entered to win it and wasn't expecting to place so highly at all."

"Why would you enter a competition without the intention to win?" The concept of such a thing was beyond Kaiba's grasp.

"To have fun of course." Rinoa smiled back at the baffled looking face. She reached out and squeezed his hand. "Aren't you having fun?"

_Fun?_ Kaiba had long forgotten what it was like to have what other people would consider 'fun'. To him everything in life was seriously competitive and he hated to lose so winning was always his goal. Never once in so many years had he thought about having fun just for the sake of it. _Fun._

He gave a glance down at the soft delicate fingers that slowly entwined with his and a smile eased onto his lips from the gesture that she liked him too. "Yes. I'm having fun."

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**A/N: Slight change of plan with this story. It will now be a five part fic** **which will continue to be updated weekly. After that then the rest of the 'planned' story will be told as a sequel once I've: a) filled in plot holes, and b) finished working on my other fics. This way you get a nice little enjoible tale and don't have to wait ages for me to update it, with the added bonus of a follow on fic at a later date ;)**

**KG  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Big thanks to: dragonlady111111, starwefter, and DaAmazingMeepers for leaving reviews :)**

**Chapter Four**

On his own Kaiba waited in the food court where he and Rinoa had retreated for another round of refreshments but had long finished. _How much time does it take to visit the bathroom?! _He looked at his watch for what felt like the hundredth time during the past quarter hour.

_Face it Seto, she's not coming back, you've been stood up!_ There was a disappointed sigh as he accepted the fact which his mind had been constantly growling at him for some time now.

Why did it bother him if the girl he had recently met would return or not? It wasn't like she was under any kind of obligation or legal binding contract. She could do what she pleased, and yet he ached inside from the thought of not seeing her again. Why?

In disguise he'd actually been able to relax, enjoy himself and unearth a part of him that he never knew, - or at least had forgotten, - was there. He'd let a complete stranger get physically close to him, her needs had been thought of and placed before his own, and he'd be lying if he said that he didn't find himself attracted to her. Were these the early sights of falling in love? Had she melted the coldness of his heart and rekindled his soul?

Another sigh. _You fool!_ Kaiba pushed back on the table and got up from his seat. He refused to sit there for a moment longer waiting for the girl who wasn't coming back and looking like an idiot during the process.

Until that point things had been going well between them. At least that's what he'd assumed as she restored his faith in humanity. Not all girls were the same as the rabid fan-twits who hounded him whenever they got the chance, and he wasn't that different from anybody else who he'd have otherwise looked down on. She'd shown him that he was capable of being a normal person again, but did his heart have to ache so much for him to believe it?

"Hey! Squall, wait up!"

His insides could have won a gold medal in the gymnastics at hearing the voice call out to him. He turned and there she was running towards him carrying a long brown parcel. How could he so easily jump to wrong conclusion? She hadn't left him, but what the hell had she been doing all that time? "I was beginning to think that you weren't coming back."

"Sorry, I kinda got distracted by the traders' hall on the way back and …well, this is for you." She held both her arms forward with the packaged balanced between them on her upturned palms. "It's to say 'thank you' for letting me put you through the torture of the masquerade act."

Kaiba looked at the gift he was presented with. _For me? _Nobody apart from his brother ever gave him such things. Hesitantly he took it and began to peel back the layer of brown paper that the stall owner had used to wrap it in and a smile shone on his face.

Rinoa almost mirrored the grin perfectly. Her purchase had achieved the desired effect as she'd longed to see the smile reappear on his face. But this had far surpassed her expectations as his mouth curved with ease and continued to grow wider than the one he had worn when she'd first met him that morning. "You like?"

"Very much so." He assured her as he held up the custom made gunblade which was an exact replica of the one his cosplay character owned in the game. It had the handle and bullet chamber of a large firearm with a huge sword blade where the gun's barrel would have been otherwise, and a silver lion's head hung on a short chain at the weapon's butt.

Clearly it was cheaply made, and no doubt way overpriced to cover the costs, - and then some, - of constructing the display-only weapon. The item itself wasn't what thrilled him. She could have quite literally presented him with a pile of shit and he'd still be happy. What excited him was the fact that the gift served as an indication that his feelings for her had been returned. This girl actually liked him without knowing about his true identity and wealth. "Thank you."

What next? Was he supposed to extend and show his gratitude with some kind of affectionate gesture? A hug, or a kiss perhaps? Would it be too soon for something like that? They had only just met each other that morning…

"Over there Yuuge!" Kaiba detected the faint sound of a voice that irritated him to no extent and was horrified to see Joey and Yugi coming closer towards them as his view glanced over the girl's shoulder.

"How about we go and check out the rest of the trader's hall?" He suggested in an attempted to flee the scene as quickly as possible.

"Sure, why not?" Rinoa smiled and was swiftly lead away before she had chance to follow his gaze back to where the King of Games had just been mobbed by a group of fans who wanted his autograph.

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_That was a close one! _Kaiba told himself as they strolled through the crowds surrounding the stalls of merchandise. _Those two have obviously seen through my disguise, no doubt they won't let me live it down, but I can't let them ruin things for me with this girl right now._

His nose wrinkled with disgust at the sight of the display of Duel Monsters plushies that was currently in front of him. Mainly the repulsion was aimed at the deformed cutesy Blue Eyes White Dragon which he picked up and turned over in his hands. _Pegasus was bad enough but how dare someone else destroy the elegance and beauty of my dragons! _ He made a name of the manufacturer to sue for such monstrosity.

"Aww, cute." Rinoa smirked sarcastically as she watched him place it back on the stall. She then continued to rummage through the rest of the plushies like she had been for the past minute or so and squealed when she found one she wanted. "Catnipped Kitty! I've been looking ages for this one, it's so hard to find."

_She collects these?_ Kaiba forgot all about his intentions to sue the company since the sickly cute plushies were something that was liked by the girl at his side. He watched as she clung to the purple cat under her arm whilst counting out the money from her purse.

"Oh!" Rinoa sighed disappointedly. "I don't have enough money." She placed the plushie down.

"Let me." Kaiba insisted as he placed it back in her arms. "You would have had enough money if you hadn't bought the Gunblade, so this is a gift from me to you."

"Aww, thank you!" She snuggled the plushie, causing the bell attached to the huge red bow around its neck to ring as it swayed.

Taking out his wallet and opening it up he found that he too didn't have enough money to pay for the item. He only ever carry around a small amount of cash, everything else was placed directly onto his debit card or paid with by cheque. _What do I do? I've already told her she'd have the stupid cat but I can't risk blowing my cover…_

There was a heavy sigh. Even though he wasn't ready to reveal himself yet he'd have to stop pretending at some point, and he really didn't want to let her down by not getting her the plushie she wanted. "This is kind of embarrassing for me but… I… er… I'm …"

"You don't have enough money either?" Rinoa asked as she watched him stutter and struggle with his words. "That's okay, I only need a little to reach the full amount."

Perfect. There was no need to come clean just yet as she'd be happy with just receiving the difference of what she was lacking for the plushie. "Here." He handed over every penny that he had in his wallet and vowed that if there was ever a next time, he'd lavish her with gifts which he would pay for in full.

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**I'm glad this fic is being enjoyed :) It makes a nice change from the darker things I've been writing recently.**

**KG  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Big thanks to: patriot16, dragonlady111111, Anonymous, Journey Maker, starwefter, and DaAmazingMeepers for leaving reviews :)**

**Chapter Five**

Their time together was drawing to an end as Kaiba and Rinoa took one final stroll beside the river outside of the venue. Hand in hand they walked along the narrow path as they reminisced the day's events, laughing back and forth at what the other had to say as the conversation flowed easily freely between them. Occasionally they were approached by other convention goers who requested photographs with the pair of them, - they had become one of the favourite masquerade entrants, - and happily obliged to do so.

Unfortunately though the time came when they had to bid their farewells to one and other as Kaiba was due to meet up with Mokuba, and the girl insisted that she had friends to regroup with.

"I guess this is goodbye then." Rinoa smiled sadly as she clutched at the plushie in her arms.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so." Kaiba laughed nervously. If he didn't laugh he felt he might cry otherwise. Surely it couldn't be time yet? He wasn't ready to say goodbye.

For the first time in the past couple of hours there was an eerie moment of silence between them as they both stood there waiting, - hoping, - that the other would ask to see them again.

_Stop cowering away like a scared child and just go ahead and ask her!! _Kaiba's mind roared at him and he stuttered helplessly as his heart threatened to escape by leaping up through his throat. "I-I-I…...w-was w-wondering i-if ……."

"I'd love to!" Rinoa blurted out as she witnessed the struggle of the boy trying to find his tongue to invite her out. Her cheeks burned the rosy redness like from before.

There was a gasp of relief as he saw that she was just as nervous as him. "H-how does next week sound?"

"Wonderful." The girl rummaged around in her purse and took out a small notepad and pen. "This is my cell phone number. Call me." She told him as she scribbled away on the page, tore it out, folded it up and passed it to him. "May I have yours?"

"Sure." Kaiba took the notepad and pen and wrote down his number. Not his regular cell phone that accepted his business calls and whoever else might need to contact him, but his personal one which only Mokuba had the number for. It was the only handset he would answer without a second thought as it took priority over everything else.

So far he'd finished writing the digits and was signing his name, - the girl would need to know who she was calling, - when momentarily he froze. He couldn't let her know who he was, not yet, he still wasn't ready, and after having already written the first two letters of his name adjusted it so he became…

"Sean." Rinoa smile as she stared at the notepad which had now been handed back to her and then looked back up at him. "Thank you Sean, I've had a lovely time today and can't wait to see you again." She leaned closer to him and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Everything stopped.

There was no sound, no recognition of any thing or one around them as Kaiba stood frozen from the feel of the soft tender lips that brushed against his skin. _She kissed me! _

He watched her pull back, his head feeling all warm and fuzzy as he gazed into her sparkling azure eyes one last time before she turned and walked away from him. It felt like an eternity of paralysis as she disappeared from his sight but was in fact less than a minute.

"… _I love it when you call, I love it when you call, I love it when you call, but you never call at all…"_

Kaiba broke free from his statue stance and quickly fumbled in his pocket to take out his ringing cell phone, his heart aflutter that she was calling him so soon but the feeling quickly subsided as he saw his brother's name flashing on the screen instead. He answered it. "Mokuba?"

"Hi bro, I'm not too far behind you, just wanted to make sure that I was approaching the correct Squall."

Kaiba turned around to see the younger brother coming towards him, the 'free hugs' sign hanging around his neck was covered in phone numbers belonging to hopeful girls and a hideously cutesy Blue Eyes White Dragon was in his grasp.

Both of them placed their phones away and the plushie was thrust at him. "Here, a present for you."

"Thanks." Kaiba muttered and tried to stop the disgust being displayed on his face from having received the hideous gift from his brother. His brows were risen as he looked at the graffiti on the battered sign. "You were popular." He smirked.

"So were you." Mokuba sneered back and got a forged bewildered look in return. "Don't act so surprised, I saw the two of you together throughout the day." The grin broadened on his face. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Yeah." He smiled sheepishly.

"I can tell." The younger brother sniggered and this time got a genuine look of surprise. "You've got lipstick on your face."

"I forgot about that." Holding the gunblade and plushie in one hand, the other was raised to the line drawn down his forehead and nose.

"No Seto." Mokuba giggled. "You've got lipstick on your face." Using his own as a mirror, a finger was brushed across his cheek.

"Oh!" Kaiba twigged to what had been meant and placed his hand where Rinoa had kissed him. When he brought it away he could see the peach coloured make-up on the tips of his fingers. His face flushed and caused the younger brother to laugh some more.

"So, what was her name then?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Didn't it cross your mind to ask her?!"

_No it hadn't._ He began to unfold the paper he'd been given which was sure to have Rinoa's true name on.

"Is that her phone number?!!" The younger was amazed that his brother had been able to act like a normal teenager for the day instead of the usual cold and work obsessed CEO.

He silently nodded whilst staring at the name underneath the digits.

"She's got one of those god forsaken names, hasn't she?" Mokuba sneered as he saw the startled expression. "You know like Jenny Tyler." The name was purposely spoken as 'genitalia'.

"No." Kaiba smirked at the amusing remark. "It's not that bad, well …? Nah, it's not that bad." He folded the paper and placed it back in his pocket. "Come on then, let's go home."

"Aren't you gonna tell me her name?"

"No."

"But you are gonna see her again?"

"Yes." He'd be seeing her again whether he liked it or not.

Kaiba smiled inwardly and out. There could have quite easily been a hint of maliciousness in his grin for Rinoa's true identity but there wasn't. He'd just experienced a side of Tea Gardener, one that he had actually liked.

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**A/N: Well that's the end of this fic, I hoped you all enjoyed it :)**

**KG  
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